Conduit clip and securing means



H. R. ELLINWOOD 2,379,893 I CONDUIT CLIP AND SECURING MEANS July10,1945.

' Filed Nov. 26, 1941 am. as 10, 1945 coNnUrr our sun sacnamc. MEANSHerman. Ray Ellinwood, Burbank, CaiiL, assignor to Adel PrecisionProducts Corp., Burbank, Calm, a corporation of California ApplicationNovember 26, 1941, Serial No. 420,577 g 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-14) inventionrelates to clips oi the type forming thesubject matter oi United StatesLetters Patent No; 2,215,283, issued September 1'7,

1940. to Paul WQAdler, and which are adaptedto provide a cushioned and"grounded" support for conduit and other lines in aircraft.

Clips 01' the type aforementioned usually comprise a strap made of analuminum alloy or similar metal, adapted to embrace a conduit andsupport. a resilient and insulating cushion against the conduit, thecushion presenting a metallic strip for bonding the conduit to the strapand metal frame of the airplane on which the strap is secured; Suchclips are ordinarily secured to the conduitand metal framing or theairplane by means of a bolt and nut, the latter being either a plainscrew threaded nut or what is known as an elastic stop or rock nut.Screw threaded nuts, especially the elastic stopnut type arecomparatively heavy and expensive and require separate handling wherenot fixed as parts of the clips. In some clip these stop nutsareshot-welded or riveted to the strap and this entails added costs.

Aluminum alloy and similar metal clips have a greater gauge thicknessand bulk and sometimes a greater weight than would be required 01' clips'lnadeoi other metals, for example, spring steel,

and are more likely to become distorted.

use of screws or bolts or similar separate iastening elementa Anotherobject 01 my invention is to provide a conduit clip such as describedwherein one'oi' the terminals 01'. the metal strap forming the bodyportion of the clip is provided with a spring tongue or like elementarranged to hold or assist in effectively holding the clip on the metali'rame structure of the aircraft.

.Yet another object is to provide a clip such as described wherein theintegral spring nuts and the securing tongues aforesaid if provided onthe metal strap may be embodied on either one of the free terminalportions of said metal strap with the nut on one terminal and thetongues on the same or the other terminal as desired to best adapt theclip to particular installations. f

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other. objectsand advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention is carriedinto. eiiect as illustrated by way of example. in .the

accompanying drawing, in which:

'In consideration of the'loregoing it is an important object of myinvention'to provide a conduit supporting clip wherein the conduitembracing strap is formed of spring metal such as steel, stainlesssteel, Phosphor-bronze, or the like, and has a spring nut embodiedtherein as an integral part thereoito the end that thinner gauge metalmay be used at a reduction in bulk, cost and weight, and with anappreciable increase in strength, resistance to vibration fatigue, andruggedness, while at the same time making it unnecessary to usecomparatively heavy and expensive screw threaded nuts which are eitherseparate i'rom 0r welded or riveted to the clip.

Another object of my invention is to provide a clip of the characterdescribed wherein the body portion comprises a. one-piece metal strapand nut unit in which the nut is 0! the lock type ha in pring tonguesi'or tensioned threaded engagement with the screw or bolt employed tofasten the clip in place.

A further object is to provide a clip of the character-next above notedin which the onepiece strap-nut unit may also embody a simple andeiiective means for anchoring the clip' to Fig. l is a perspective viewof a clipembodying my invention:

Fig. 2 is a vertical mid-section thereol, the greater portion of theconduit embracing part of the clip being broken away.

Fig; 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the formed of spring steel,Phosphor-bronze or some the metaliraming oi the airplane without the 65other suitable spring metal. This strap has-tree apertured terminals Iand I which are brought close together after the clip is embraced ontheconduit to clamp the clip on the conduit and are then secured to themetal structure 0.

A cushion 3 oi resilient insulation material is supported by the strapso as to embrace the conduit, absorb vibrations in and prevent wear onthe conduit, also insulate .it from the metal strap.

This cushion may be aflixed to the strap-in any suitable manner, andashere shown has flanges 4 which embrace the side edges and outer face ofthe strap to hold the cushion in place. 1

The present invention deals more particularly with the means forsecuring the clip in place on the metal structure C and alsoon theconduit 3. A spring or elastic nut is formed on the inner terminal I ofthe spring metal strap by striking screw threads of the bolt, similarlyto a nut.

the tension of the tongues providing the locking action for holding thebolt against unintentional turning and loosening.

Thus it is seen that the integral nut formation eliminates the use ofscrew threaded nuts which are separately applied or are fastened insomemanner to. the strap. The spring nut formation of this invention isobviously cheaper, lighter in weight, and more easily applied than wherescrew threaded nuts are afiixed to the strap or separately applied asthe ordinary nut to the bolt.

By making the strap of spring metal I am able to embody thiscomparatively simple and inexpensive form of lock-nut in a terminal ofthe strap with the advantages hereinbefore noted, also-the advantage ofa stronger, more durable, and lighter clip as a whole, which lendsitself to a greater variety of forms and installations than possiblewith conduit clips as heretofore made.

The outer terminal 2 of the spring metal strap may be provided. with aspring attaching tongue I! to secure the clip to the structure C of theairplane. In this arrangement the terminal. 2 is longer than theterminal I and is backwardly deilected at In so as directly to overliean opening i I in the support through which said tongue is 'a,a7o,eos,

' out from the outer-face of said terminal opposed outer end of theterminal I, and is oppositely bent at Ilbsothatthepartof theclipbeyondthe latter bend, that is to say the free end portion of the clip, is ina parallel, rearwardlyspaced relation to the portion of the terminal Iopposite thereto. I

Moreover, the tongue Il may be of any shape desired to facilitate itsfunction of clamping the clip to the structure C or the like. and it maybe extended in any manner and located at any point on the terminalprovided it serves the purpose of clamping or assisting in clamping orholding the clip to the frame structure of the airp ane.

When the clip has been put in place upon the support C, it is not onlysustained by the tongue member it, but said tongue member functionstemporarily to maintain the clip in its conduit embracing position, sothat the 'only thing remaininga to be done is to insert and tighten thescrew It should be noted that the present invention is deemed to includethe provision on at least one. of the terminals of the spring metalstrapof the clip, of a projection, tongue or the like adapted to engage andcooperate with the structure on which the clip is mounted in suchmaninserted to fasten the strap in place. This arbend 10s at its base,which is located near the ner as to hold or assist in holding the clipin place.

While I have shown and described aspecific embodiment of my invention Ido not limit myself to the exact details of construction set forth. andthe invention embraces such changeamodiflcations and equivalents of theparts and their for-' mation and arrangement as some within the purofsaid terminals extendingintotheaperture in a said supporting structurefor threadedly engagin therein a threaded fastening inserted through theapertures of said terminals and into the aperture in said supportingstructure.

HERMAN RAY ELLINWOOD.

